Saturday, September 16, 2006

I'm SO Done!

Well, we had planned to have the garage sale from 3-6 on Thursday and from 9-6 Friday and Saturday. But by 1:00 today we were so picked over that we were selling .75 an hour and begging people to take things away. So I had Champs go take down all our signs and I started boxing things up. In the end, I went from 19 totes and more of stuff that I sorted through to four boxes of stuff to give away and ended the sale early. Not bad, really.

I've spend more time on the sale than my house this last week, so tomorrow will be spent reclaiming the house and putting away those things that I decided not to sell. After that I'll have maybe 4 or so boxes of nit-picky stuff to sort through and we will be truly "settled". Champs is overjoyed that his garage is finally his garage and he's out there as I type, reclaiming his space. There's a bit of stuff to store away, but in the end, we did really well at creating space for him - and my car! Not to mention that we made almost $500.00 in the process. Yeah, not bad at all.

My neighbor, Star, was invaluable through this. She helped me sort through boxes and kept saying, "do you really need that? Does it change your life?" Because of her I was able to really pare down on all the extras. I can honestly say that I won't miss anything I got rid of. Not only that, but she took Sweet Girl for an overnight and out for the day today so she and Comet could have some fun together. What a great neighbor!

There were three stories from the sale that taught me a lesson:1. A woman came up to me and said, "See that lady over there? Well, I was picking out magnets to buy and she took two of them right out of my hand!" She didn't say anything to the woman, but I sure would have! Lesson here: If it's in your hand, it's your stuff. Protect it!

2. I sold a bunch of rubber stamp sets at a great discount. Most of them were brand new sets. I put a sign on the table that read, "Stamp prices are firm. Thank you." Well, I had a lady come yesterday and tell me how she was going to use them for her church, etc., etc. She kept talking, asking prices and adding sets while I was trying to help other customers. In the end, she talked me down to $20.00 for 5 sets; three of them really large sets. It turned out to be $4.00 each average price for brand new sets that I paid $14.95 -24.95 for. After she walked away and I realized, I was so mad at myself for letting her bamboozle me. She came back today and said she was back for "another good deal". I explained to her that I had already marked the prices down for today and she would have to pay the price that was marked. I further explained the average price she had paid yesterday compared to the new prices I paid and pointed out that she wasn't paying tax or shipping. She actually got mad at me and huffed away. Lesson here: Don't let people turn your head with their intentions for your stuff. If it's worth the price, charge it or keep it. In the end, I kept my other stamp sets and I'll e-Bay them.

3. Champs was my "advertising executive" in charge of placing our signs on every major street corner and on the way into our neighborhood. I think I made 22 signs for 11 locations (one on each side of the street sign or telephone pole). He did a great job of placing them and I actually had a lot of folks tell me what great signs they were and easy to see. Today, Champs went to the store for some bags and came back absolutely fuming. Someone had taken down our signs, turned them around and written an advertisement for THEIR sale on the back of OUR sign! Oh, he was P.O.'d!! Of course he took it down. Later, he went back to put our sign back up. On the way home, he found that they had torn down our signs on another corner. That did it; he went to confront them. They tried excuses, but he had them dead to rights and they knew it. Lesson here: Pay for your own posterboard. If you're going to earn a few hundred on a sale, you can spend a few dollars to make your own freakin' signs!

All in all it was a great sale. We learned our lessons, made some money, got our garage back and Champs is happy that he'll never have to move all that stuff again. We also met a lot of great neighbors with kids and learned about a bunch of churches in our area. I'm glad it's done, but boy are we tired!

Here are some comments from this post:Carmi said... Isn't it sad how people reveal their nastiness in different ways? Garage sales, for some reason, have always brought out the worst in folks. Still, we'd do another one in a heartbeat. Because for every yokel who tries to rip you off with the "it's for my church" sob story, or who blatantly steals/defaces your signs, there's a good friend who looks after your child and supports you all the way through. The good always manages to win out over the bad. I loved this vignette, Blond Girl.

moon said... I can so relate to your *lessons learned...my last post was about how Rude ppl are becoming. It baffles me. To take them out of her HAND?! Turn your signs OVER! omg...where were these ppl raised? Makes one shake their heads and totally appreciate those humans left that know BETTER. Loved the post.

Shane said... i guess 2 magnets in the hand 'aint worth 2 on the table.

Star said... You have a neighbor named Star? How cool. Glad the sale went well. Sounds like you are well settled in.

kenju said... I have had 5-6 garage sales over the years - and it sounds as if you are already an old seasoned hand at it too. You are right about people trying to gyp you down on good stuff. I let a good leather attache case go for $2 because I misunderstood what the woman was asking about (I thought it was an old suitcase). You have to stay on top of thieves too!

Geekwif said... Arrgh. How sad that people are so dishonest, nasty and cheap. I gotta say I'm impressed with you though even if I'm not so much with a few of your fellow "OtherStateians". You sold $500 at a garage sale! I remember doing garage sales with my mom when I was a kid and I doubt we ever hit $100. You totally rock! Next time you're back here can I hire you as my personal garage sale consultant/organizer? :-) P.S. Sweet Girl's got mail coming soon. Watch your mailbox!

princssis said... I, along with the others, cannot believe how rude people have become! We even encountered rude boy scouts at the campout we went to this weekend!!! Just makes you wonder how these people were raised! No respect. Anyway, thanks for keeping an eye on Belle, even while you had your garage sale! Although, I was sure there would be a story here about her. And, where is she and CJ on your sidebar?????? (I just have to give you a little bit of a hard time.) :)

jsdaughter said... I'm glad your garage sale went well. Every time I have one, I say I'll never do it again.. lol